Thursday, October 26, 2006

It was a night when the World Series was rained out, so I began to come to terms with that little pain in the very back of my head that I have been ignoring for over 4 months. I watched the Mavericks for most of the 2nd half from Pittsburgh as they beat Cleveland, 83-81. I can’t remember a season that went so well that is remembered so badly, but it happened. I week from tonight the San Antonio Spurs visit Dallas in the season opener. The symmetry is perfect, of course, that the Rangers played themselves out of the race when Cowboys camp was opening. And now, more symmetry as the Cowboys are tanking right as the Mavericks are ready to begin. This is sports in the big city. I love me some Dallas.

Anyway, that is then. Now Tony Romo is the starter, and I am ready to proclaim a personal moratorium on this board about Romo v. Bledsoe. It has been decided, argued, rebutted, re-rebutted, and now we shall move on to Sunday. As a man who knows his way around Wisconsin, I feel a little state pride for the young man, but I fear what John Fox is plotting for Sunday Night.

Heralded but untested, Tony Romo has long been targeted as the Cowboys' quarterback of the future by coach Bill Parcells.

But in making the decision to install Romo as the starter over veteran Drew Bledsoe, Parcells has nothing but the present in mind.

Although the Cowboys (3-3) have struggled through their first six games and are about to embark on three consecutive road games starting Sunday in Carolina, Parcells says the Cowboys still have a chance to do something in 2006. And with 10 games to go in what could be his last season in coaching, he firmly believes Romo gives them the best chance to win because of his mobility.

"I know the business; I've been in it a long time," Parcells said. "They can get the hearses if they want to, but I'm not riding in them yet. Simple as that. I just need to make an attempt to do something that alters kind of what we have been... this thing is a long way from being over."

The season might not be over, but considering Parcells came here in 2003 to return the Cowboys to the Super Bowl, time might be running out on him in Dallas. He has a 28-27 record and just one playoff appearance, and that resulted in a first-round loss.

The thought occurred to me when he was asked Wednesday if it isn't a bad time to be replacing Drew Bledsoe with Tony Romo, what with a three-game road trip coming up. And somehow the question prompted Parcells to invoke the name of John Unitas.

Maybe you know the story: Cut by the Steelers and picked up by the Colts off a semi pro lot, Unitas was forced into action as a rookie. And his first play? An interception.

Sounds like Romo's story, all right. Only let's not get carried away. A football culture primer: For all you kids, Johnny U. was the greatest QB ever in some books. Never mind the flat-top and black high tops. He was tough, brilliant and he'd step on your throat if he had to.

"I'm ashamed to put out a team that plays like that,'' Parcells, the Dallas coach, said Monday night after his Cowboys got drilled by the Giants. He could have been speaking for both men, after Washington's poiseless players contributed to Gibbs' fifth loss this season Sunday at Indianapolis

Weird stat of the week: Gibbs and Parcells both lost 36-22 over the weekend.

Sad stat of the year: These two coaching giants are a combined 46-47 in their NFC East Comeback Tour in regular-season games, 1-2 in the playoffs.

Father Time stat of the year: Gibbs and Parcells are each 65.

We all wonder whether this is the end for both men, whether six months from now Parcells will be at his home in Saratoga Springs awaiting the summer thoroughbred meet and whether Gibbs will be back at his auto-racing garage in North Carolina, plotting how to win a stock car championship. These two used to own the playoffs and won five of the 10 Super Bowls between 1983 and 1992, but are in danger of leaving the game without winning a single postseason game beyond the wild-card round in their final coaching stops.

2. Dallas Stars: Naming Brenden Morrow captain was the right move. The NHL is a young man's game again, and Morrow brings an energy and a youthfulness to an organization that needs good young players desperately. Also, Dallas needs Morrow to score 35 goals this year. He needs to step up his game offensively, and maybe the captaincy will give him a little push in that direction. Dallas still is a bit of an older team, so it will be interesting to see whether the older players can stay healthy and stay energized all year. The Stars also need people like Antti Miettinen to score all year. The Mike Ribeiro trade was clutch. They look like a really good team right now, but we need to keep an eye on them.

I am taking a look at the big picture of this franchise and it is just puzzling.

The point Im trying to make is that when we think of the Cowboys over the years, we think of Meredith, Staubach, Aikman. This is a town of legends and winners, and we are now to a point that we are debating whether or not to start a 6th rounder the rest of the year? Are you kidding me?

Where have we come to? Because of the bottom of the barrel discount shopping we have done since Troy retired, we are here. I am a true Cowboy fan and love the history of this franchise and now, I do not know what to think about this situation. Is it Jerry's fault? Is it Bill's fault?

This is the simple fact that this franchise has been duct taping everything together from the time Troy left, and we will never make a Super Bowl run until we start from square one once again, and either draft a quarterback or trade for one that has only been in the league for 3 or less years. Right now...O-line: C-D-line: BBackfield: BSecondary: CQuarterback: D

What does that say? We are an average team.

Stay tuned for the next 6 months because it will define the next 3 years for the Cowboys.

andy douthitt...you're right, this was a franchise of legends, so what happened to change it? Simple...the bidness changed. What you're seeing isn't (all) Jerry's or Bill's fault. If Jerry could wheel and deal and whip it out (the checkbook) like he did when he bought the Cowboys, you'd be looking at another 5 superbowls here.

What's the one dominant franchise since Switzer? Patriots. Why? Because they are able to assemble a group of fairly nonlegendary players who play well together under a smart coach and a no-nonsense QB (who might have sat behind Bledsoe for years if Drew hadn't gotten hurt).

Just wait...if baseball ever goes the way of the NFL, how succesfull will Big George be in New York?

The Aggie/Baylor game isn't on TV *anywhere*? That's surprising, I'd figure it would at least be on ESPN Gameplan given the two teams' recent history and the fact that they're both doing well so far this year. I'm a UT fan and I wanted to watch that game almost as much as the UT/Tech game this week.

Would Roger have stayed around? Would the Doomsday defense ever have stayed together?Dorsett?Bob Hayes?The list of legends goes on and on.

I truly believe that when Bill took this job, he knew that this franchise was the Yankees of football, just as the Giants were a historic and legendary franchise when he was there.

He knows that he is in the middle of history here, and he does not want to leave this franchise embarrased and mediocre, but what can you do when you put together 10-6, 6-10, 9-7, etc. You are always finishing middle of the pack so that doesn't leave you with high draft picks (I'm talking top 5 quarterback draft picks here). No matter what anyone thinks of Jerry and Bill, behind closed doors there is mutual respect for each other and mutual respect for what Tom Landry created in this town. (Remember how much Bill appreciates Tom as a man and a coach.)

Bottom line is this: Under the current system in the league, The Cowboys arguably have the best management team to deal with the ins and outs of the cap, the problem that we have had is locating and signing and talent evaluating the line of scrimmage on both sides.

So, Bledsoe will retire after the year. And lets just say, for arguments sake, that Romo will not revolutionize the position like many on here think. Lets just say he sucks. The Cowboys will likely be going into the offseason with no QB and no Head Coach.

This team is built to win now, or in the near future. So do you draft a QB and take the time to develop him or do go after a free agent? And the best free agent QB available this offseason (and this will make a lot of people on here sick) is Chris Simms.

Andy--I don't think the great franchises of the past would've materialized under the current conditions..that means the Boys, 49ers, or Steelers. Nor do I think we'll ever see anything like that again. These days all you have is a chance to catch lightening in a bottle. It's like the planets all lining up and you might have a great team, but you can't keep it together...you have to choose which star to hang your franchise on.

Truthfully, could any team afford Troy, Deion, Emmitt, and Michael?? Even if you could, would there be any room for "secondary" stars like Haley, Newton, Allen, Moose, Step, Woodson, Norton, etc....?

I personally would have liked to see Bill and Jerry pick up some offensive lineman in the draft, rather than a "linebacker" who only plays special teams and a tight end who can't block that well anyway. I mean, did we not all realize last year that the weakness of this team is the O-line? If you can block in the passing game and open up holes in the running game, you can mask a lot of weaknessness. If you can't get it done up front, then everything else looks terrible. Troy, Emmitt, Michael, etc was awesome in the 90's, but that team had (arguably) the greatest O-line in NFL history. When you can run the ball, you control the clock. When you control the clock, you control the flow of the game. When you control the flow of the game, you probably win.

Completely agree Rick...Going into the draft last year, I (partially) joked that the Cowboy's draft sheet should be: Rounds 1-3 O-line, Round 4 WR, Round 5-7 O-line. I was completely confused and pissed on the Bobby my-Dad-played-for-Bill Carpenter pick. This pick makes the Jacob Rogers pick look like the Herschel Walker trade!!!

There's a banner hanging in Texas Stadium that attests to the strength of the 90s O-line...Emmitt wouldn't be on Dancing with the Stars (much less heading for the Hall) without those guys. Props to Troy for giving them a shout out in his Hall speech.

The worst part is...Carpenter isn't even logging significant playing time, let alone making any kind of a difference on this team. If this continues, I'd argue this is the worst first-round pick in franchise history (worse than Shante Carver and Kavika Pittman at this rate). As far as the O-line is concerned, it doesn't matter if you have Bledsoe, Romo, Montana or Aikman taking the snaps. If you can't assert yourselves up front, you have nothing.

"The worst part is...Carpenter isn't even logging significant playing time, let alone making any kind of a difference on this team. If this continues, I'd argue this is the worst first-round pick in franchise history (worse than Shante Carver and Kavika Pittman at this rate). As far as the O-line is concerned, it doesn't matter if you have Bledsoe, Romo, Montana or Aikman taking the snaps. If you can't assert yourselves up front, you have nothing."

wow rick bentley, where do you come up with all these original comments. congratulations on being the first to recognize the sorriness of the offensive line, tell me this, does defense really win championships?

sturrminator...my point is that people are concerned with things that aren't the big issue on this team. The "QB controversy" is just an indicator of the overall crappiness of the team. Never said they're super red-hot sports opinions...just remarking that before everyone sends the mob with pitchforks and torches after Romo's next 4 int performance (or Bledsoes' next 4 int performance if he gets back in the game), that they should probably direct blame where blame is due.

I'm with sturrminator. Rick is totally gay.The direction of the Copwboys makes no sense. They've pulled the plug on the season six games in, and for what? Let's say Romo is a legitimate option at QB that just needs seasoning and experience to be successful. Once he gets that experience, how old will Terrell and Terry be? By the way, the o-line should not shoulder the guilt alone for this disaster. The skill players aren't exactly picking up blitzes with aplomb. Witten may be the most one-dimensional player on this team, and that's saying something on a roster with Roy Williams on it.

The O-Line hasn't been the same since Hudson Houck left. All the guy does is create dominant offensive lines. If I was Jerry, I'd back a dumptruck of money to Houck's door and then threaten the Teflon Tuna with cement galoshes if he doesn't welcome him to the staff. Obviously, it's too late for this year but, hell, this year's already in the can.